


Blue and Gray

by SkylarkOfTheMoon



Category: ACCA13区監察課 | ACCA 13-ku Kansatsuka
Genre: Domestic, Established Relationship, M/M, Nino's hair is beautiful, and I may or may not have, dyed my hair blue the day after watching
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-04
Updated: 2018-08-04
Packaged: 2019-06-21 13:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15558753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SkylarkOfTheMoon/pseuds/SkylarkOfTheMoon
Summary: There’s an envelope on the welcome mat when he comes out of their bedroom. Nino already knows without opening it that it’s a photo from Lotta. She’s been travelling around the districts and only stays at the apartment building once or twice a month. Effectively Nino has taken over her job as building manager while he takes a break from ‘reporting’.At least that’s the excuse he and Jean give others when they asked why Nino moved in.





	Blue and Gray

**Author's Note:**

> I finished watching ACCA in under a day just because I saw one really nice fanart with Tsukishima and Kageyama as Nino and Jean <3 I just love Nino and Jean's dynamic and story. It's one of the best I've seen for a while. I do hope there's more stories about them released in the future. I can only hope. 
> 
> I really wanted to discuss Nino's real age here. It feels like they barely brushed up on it and how it will impact his and Jean's lives now that Jean knows Nino knows him far longer than 15 years.

_"Attend the same high school."_

 

_"Huh?"_

_"Stay near him and protect him. You'll join the photography club. Take tons of photos from nearby. I'm sure His Majesty will be pleased."_

_"But..."_

_"Just as His Majesty longs for my photos he'll long for yours. Become friends with the Prince so that you're invited home and can eat Lady Schnee's homemade bread. I'll have you write a report about its taste." Nino can only look on in confusion as his father enters their dark room._

_"But this year, I turned 25."_

_"Glasses! If you hide how your eyes look, you can disguise your age!” His father rummages around his bag and pulls out new camera, the same model as his. He places it in Nino’s hands. “This is from the master to you. A camera._

_The glasses are from me." In his hands is a regular pair of black glasses. Nino learns that the lenses aren’t graded when his father places it on his face. He looks through the lens at his father’s proud smile. He can’t possibly refuse this mission now, can he?_

 

* * *

 

 

Nino wakes up, stares at the blank ceiling above him. The last remains of the dream are fuzzy in his mind but he can recall the feel of the camera on his hands and the weight of the glasses on his face. He can remember his father’s smile at him as he teaches Nino how to operate the small camera so he can take the best photos for His Majesty.

 

It’s the first dream he can remember so vividly. It feels less like a dream and more like a memory.

 

There’s movement somewhere beside him. He turns his head and sees a tuft of blond hair peeking out from under the blankets. A smile graces his lips as he sits up and observes his partner.

 

Jean’s hair has grown longer. Without Lotta around to remind him to go to the barber’s every now and then he’s letting it grow. It used to end by his nape but now it’s reaching until his shoulders. Nino curls a lock of blond hair between his fingers and thinks of buying some ponytails when he goes out that day. That would be a nice look for Jean, but it might end up with him looking like that supervisor from Rokkusu, Sandpiper.

 

Nino begins the morning as always. He grabs his glasses from the nightstand and puts it on. Their bedroom shifts into focus. It’s funny how when he first got the glasses from his father it was just plain fashion glasses, but as the years go by and his eyesight got worse Nino had the lenses replaced. In a way it’s just like how he came into the life of the Otus family—a necessity at first but as the time passes it’s become so ingrained in his system that it doesn’t feel out of place anymore.

 

(Mornings always had a way of making him think of things too deeply.)

 

There’s an envelope on the welcome mat when he comes out of their bedroom. Nino already knows without opening it that it’s a photo from Lotta. She’s been travelling around the districts and only stays at the apartment building once or twice a month. Effectively Nino has taken over her job as building manager while he takes a break from ‘reporting’.

 

At least that’s the excuse he and Jean give others when they asked why Nino moved in.

 

Today’s photo is from Suitsu. It’s a nice photograph of the new center square where nobles and commoners alike are joined together for a celebration of sorts. The crowd is framed by the orange glow of lanterns hanging overhead. Lotta is out of frame as always. She never quite managed to use the timer so she can put herself in the photos like Nino sometimes does. He’ll have to teach her again the next time she drops by for a visit.

 

Nino places the photo with the growing pile on their coffee table. Postcards and photographs from all the twelve districts from Famasu to Rokkusu are spread out. Jean still hasn’t decided what to do with them but Nino thinks he just likes seeing his sister spreading her wings. In contrast with Jean’s audits of the thirteen districts as the supposed intermediary for the coup d'état, Lotta is seeing them just for the pleasure of the sights, the people and of course, the sweets.

 

Nino starts the toast and pulls out the butter and jam. The coffee machine is set to brew and the TV is turned to the morning news. He has to look over the request forms from the building tenants today. Jean might help out. He has the day off.

 

As he waits for breakfast, Nino heads for the bathroom to wash up. It’s one of the things Jean questioned about him when he first moved in.

 

_“Why do you prepare breakfast first before washing up? Most people start by washing up first.”_

_“It’s how my dad has always done it. I think I got from him.”_

Nino places his glasses on the counter and turns on the faucet. He splashes cold water on his face, washing away the sand in his eyes and grabs a towel to wipe his face with. When he places the towel back and puts on his glasses, it’s only then that he notices the gray hairs.

 

It starts from his temples, two millimeters of gray blending seamlessly with his blue hair. It’s small enough not to be noticeable from afar but up close it’s quite obvious.

 

Jean once said they’ve known each other for 15 years. Nino rebuked it. It was 30 years (and counting).

 

That’s 15 years of observing from afar and the next years up close. Nino is 40 to Jean’s 30. It’s something Nino has always known but he’s never felt those 10 years this palpable until now. That would place him in his teens when Jean was still a kid, practically an adult when they attended high school together. And now they’re--

 

Nino’s thoughts are interrupted by the bathroom door opening. Jean looks half-awake, with his eyes bleary and the blanket on top of his head and around his body like a fuzzy hood. For a man of 30, he looks childish.

 

(That’s the thing isn’t it? Jean would always look younger in Nino’s eyes.)

 

“Good morning, Nino,” Jean says as he rubs at his eyes.

 

“Morning, Jean.”

 

“You’re up early again.” Nino steps aside the sink so Jean could lean over to wash his face. “Building emergency?”

“No. Just woke up from a dream.”

 

“Nightmare?”

 

 _His father, the camera, the fake glasses, the presence of gray among the blue._ “I suppose.”

 

Perhaps it’s his subconscious speaking. When Jean stands upright again and stares at him, Nino swipes his hair back, exposing the grays at his temples. Jean’s eyes immediately fly towards it.

 

“Ah. You have gray hair now.”

 

“That I do.”

 

Jean continues to look at him. Nino has played observer these past years that it’s unnerving to be on the other end of it.

 

“We can always buy hair dye, if you’d like?” Jean says tentatively.

 

Nino can’t help but chuckle. Trust Jean to figure him out immediately. He’s been getting better at that now that they’re living together.

 

“That’s not really the problem here Jean.”

 

“I don’t see why your age is a problem.” Hit the nail on the head again. “Nino is still Nino, isn’t he? Me knowing your age doesn’t change anything about us.”

 

Nino would like to argue but Jean always has a way of sounding so certain that Nino can’t help but trust his words. It’s one of the things he likes about him. He has a way with words that just wraps Nino up completely.

 

“Come here.” Nino tugs him by the blanket and kisses Jean on the forehead. The blanket falls from Jean’s head and settles on his shoulders like some sort of cloak. It’s an oddly fitting image.

 

(For as much as Jean did not want to be a king, he is the king of Nino’s heart. Ugh mornings and sentiments.)

 

When they pull back Jean, bumps their noses together. It’s a silent affirmation that Nino returns wholeheartedly. They don’t have to say those words to be able to express it.

 

“You’re really okay with this? With me?” Nino can’t help but ask.

 

“I wouldn’t be here with you right now if I wasn’t.” Jean looks up at him, eyes unblinking. “Just as you chose me, I chose you Nino. There’s nothing in this world that can change my mind.”

 

Is it possible to fall deeper in love with someone? 

 

Nino thinks it is.

 

He _knows_ it is.

 

* * *

 

“I made breakfast but we’re almost out of bread.” Jean grabs the coffee pot and fills two mugs with it as Nino plates up the toast. They set the table together and as they sit down Nino bumps their shoulders together.

 

“We can go to Mugimakilater after the building maintenance.”

 

“Can we drop by the park later too? I hear they’re installing a new art piece. I miss taking pictures.”

 

“Pictures of me or just in general?” Jean quips.

 

“I have enough pictures of you to last me a lifetime.” Nino places his hand on top of Jean’s and squeezes. He feels Jean squeeze back. “Having the real thing is so much better.”

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> I wanted to add this but it didn’t fit in the story.
> 
> Nino gave one of his cameras to Lotta. After years of being tied to the Dowa family and using all his cameras to take photos of just Jean and Lotta, Nino retire. Lotta is using it to take pictures of her travels, the people she meets and the sweets she eats.
> 
> As for Nino, he busies himself as the new building manager, since it’s canon that Jean can’t handle that by himself. I’d like to think his whole ‘PI-turned-journalist’ was just a cover-up for his job under Owl and the Internal Affairs department. He bought a new camera and uses it to take other pictures now—mostly landscapes and other people.  
>    
> Though Jean is still his favorite subject. ;)


End file.
